Edgar extends invite to workout

~ Southeast's new coach wants the public to see the team in Friday's session.

Official practice doesn't begin for more than a month and the first exhibition game is not until November.

But Scott Edgar is affording fans the opportunity to get an extra early sneak preview of his first Southeast Missouri State basketball team.

Edgar is inviting Southeast fans to the Show Me Center at 4 p.m. Friday to watch the Redhawks go through individual skill and conditioning workouts.

"I don't know how many people are going to show up, but hopefully there will be some," Edgar said. "Everybody is welcome."

While official practice doesn't begin until Oct. 15, once classes start, the NCAA allows teams to hold individual workouts for up to two hours per week per player with no more than four players allowed to be together at the same time.

Beginning Friday, the entire squad can be together at the same time, but the limit is still two hours per week per player.

"I believe the individual workouts are very beneficial to us," Edgar said. "My main function is to maximize my roster and with that, this time of year, I want to make them all better basketball players.

"As I build their skill level and conditioning, I think they do become better."

Edgar said Friday's session will be a good opportunity for fans to see how the coaches have been drilling the Redhawks and also to get a look at the new players in the program. He expects the workout to last approximately 40 minutes.

"This will be an exhibition of our skill work and the drills and conditioning that we do in order to improve individually," Edgar said. "We're very, very big on individual instruction.

"There really won't be any scrimmaging, except maybe in some small groups like 3-on-3. It will mostly be conditioning and shooting."

Added Edgar: "There will be a lot of good things Friday and a lot of mistakes, but that's what this type of the year is all about. We want to put on a fairly organized show for our fans. This will be good for the players, because they've been in there with me and now this will be something a little different."